Sepp Blatter apologises for comments about racism in football but insists he will not resign

Fifa president Sepp Blatter insists he will not step down from his position
after apologising for remarks he made about racism in football and says he remains
committed to reforming the scandal-wracked organisation.

At the end of a week that saw calls for his resignation from Downing Street to David Beckham following Blatter’s suggestion that racist incidents should be settled with a handshake, he said he “regretted” the offence he had caused.

But Blatter insisted that he was a committed anti-discrimination campaigner, and suggested critical players such as Rio Ferdinand and Andrew Cole should show “more understanding” of Fifa’s work to tackle racism.

"I am sorry and I regret that my statements earlier this week have resulted in an unfortunate situation. I am committed to the fight against racism and I will not stop until I have stamped out racism in football,” Blatter said.

"When you have done something which was absolutely not totally correct, I can only say I am sorry for all those people affected by my declarations.” But asked if he would resign he was adamant he would see out his current term as president to 2015. He said he was determined to carry through a reform program outlines last month to try and deal with the corruption scandals that have blighted Fifa’s reputation in the last year.

“"I cannot resign. Why should I? When you are faced with a problem you have to solve the problem. To leave the organisation this would be totally unfair and is not compatible with my fighting spirit, my character, my energy and my personal commitment to football.”

Asked about comments from Ferdinand, who described Blatter as “condescending” in a Twitter exchange, the Fifa president implied senior players should know better.

“These are reactions, I don’t know if they come from the heart or the spirit, but if you look at the situation that I personally and Fifa has done in the field of anti-racism and discrimination then we could expect a little bit more understanding from star players. But that is why I am sorry and I regret it.”

Ferdinand and Cole were among scores of prominent English football figures and politicians who rounded on but the Fifa president following his comments, but Blatter yesterday received an endorsement from South African politician Tokyo Sexwale.

Sexwale, a minister in the South African government imprisoned alongside Nelson Mandela during the apartheid era, was dragged into the row after Fifa posted a picture of him embracing Blatter on its website.

Yesterday he gave a press conference in Johannesburg praising Blatter’s contribution to bringing the World Cup to South Africa, but criticised the decision to select John Terry to captain England “Mr Blatter is well known worldwide as a champion against racism and discrimination,” he said. “It is therefore completely unthinkable to refer to such a man as a racist.

"It was rather unfortunate of Blatter to utter such statements. We have had countless cases of racial slurs being spewed by players on the field of play. We should differentiate between racial remarks and remarks when players are fighting for the ball.

"I think what Mr Blatter was saying, he mixed up those emotions and was trying to say ’look, let’s get on with the game’. It was an unfortunate mistake. But you can’t mitigate racist slurs with a handshake. No handshake can repair this damage.” Regarding Terry, Sexwale said: “The most worrisome is the case involving Chelsea captain John Terry where he is being investigated for racial remarks he made against (Anton Ferdinand),” he said.

"John Terry is also the captain of the English national team. It is not helpful for any side to have honoured him with the captain’s armband whilst the indiscretion against another player is still so fresh in the mind.”

Blatter insisted that he would continue to see through reforms following a devastating year for Fifa which has seen four executive committee members banned or resign amid corruption allegations, including former presidential candidate Mohammad Bin Hammam.

On Friday a further six Caribbean football officials were sanctioned by the Fifa ethics committee following Bin Hammam’s alleged offer of $40,000 bribes at a meeting in Trinidad last May.

Blatter said that the flawed bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was the cause of a loss of credibility, but said Fifa’s ethics committee was taking steps to deal with the fall-out.

Asked why people should trust him after 13 years in charge during which the flawed system grew up he said: “I don’t know what people will trust me but the family of football should trust me, and the community of football trust me because the elected me by a huge majority.”

Blatter said his reform program will move on next month when the executive committee will appoint members to a new good governance committee.

He also said that he hoped to publish court documents that name Fifa executives who accepted bribes, but that two of those named were still opposed to publication.